Ledger-Dispatch

By Jenifer Gee (jgee@ledger-dispatch.com)=20

A Plymouth Elementary School student = descends the=20 steps of her school bus after arriving home.

Photo by: Jenifer Gee

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Amador High School students crowd a = school bus=20 some students will ride for an hour and 45 minutes. The school = board=20 recently approved a fee schedule for the 2008-09 school year but = some=20 question whether it's fair to charge for a service that needs = considerable=20 improvements.

Photo by: Jenifer=20 Gee
As soon as school bus driver Lajuana = Hawkins=20 pulls into the bus lane at Plymouth Elementary School, she automatically = opens=20 her door even though at first glance no students are waiting for her to=20 arrive.

Moments later a petite, blonde elementary student clomps = up the=20 bus's three steps and, while trying to catch her breath, excitedly tells = Hawkins=20 how she's improved her grades. She proudly thrusts a single sheet of = paper that=20 has her new grades on it into the bus driver's hands to show her the = proof. All=20 the while Hawkins listens intently and smiles.

"That's fantastic, = sweetie," Hawkins exclaims, giving the girl a hug. "I'm proud of=20 you."

The girl smiles as she takes two steps and plops herself in = the=20 front seat behind Hawkins.

Hawkins has been serving not only as a = bus=20 driver, but a counselor, mother hen, disciplinarian, etiquette teacher = and more=20 for the past 17 years as an employee of the Amador County Unified School = District.

Within that time frame, she's seen, heard and = experienced just=20 about everything, she says, and is especially wary of the school board's = recent=20 approval of a fee schedule to charge students to ride the bus for the = 2008-09=20 school year. She's been a bus driver the previous two times the district = has=20 tried to implement the fee and she's not so sure the third time will be = the=20 charm.

"I don't see what they're going to do different than they = did the=20 last two times," Hawkins said.

But district officials and some = school=20 board members disagree. Over the past six months the board and staff = have=20 weighed the pros and cons. Some questioned whether or not the district = should=20 charge for service when some students are on a bus for about an hour and = 45=20 minutes one way.

Board members David Dutra and P.J. Karnaze both = have=20 said they felt uncomfortable approving a plan to charge for a service = when they=20 didn't know just how much it would actually benefit the district = financially and=20 whether or not parents would be getting a service worth paying = for.

"No=20 one's really told me how much we're going to make and if we're really = going to=20 benefit our children," Dutra said.

Others voiced their support = for=20 charging the fees. Arguing that you can't improve service without extra = money,=20 some board members said they believe the fees would be a good start in = bringing=20 better equipment and drivers to the transportation = department.

"The point=20 of this is to reduce the money we're taking from instruction services so = fee=20 payers are getting in return more money for instructional programs," = said board=20 member Chuck Anderson. "I think that's what we need to make a statement = about. I=20 don't know how feasible it will be improving service, but we can keep = money in=20 the instructional budget."

Superintendent Mike Carey claimed that = the=20 fees will bring in at least $80,000 for the district's transportation = department=20 with a little more than $200,000 being the highest fees could bring in.=20

The highest fee charged will be $270 for a family with three or = more=20 children and the lowest could be free for those students who=20 qualify.

When it came time to approve the fee schedule for the = upcoming=20 school year, five of the seven board members voted in favor of it at a = board=20 meeting last week, with Karnaze and Dutra voting against the=20 motion.

Hawkins attended the meeting and asked the board whether = or not=20 they had considered that shorter bus routes, if enacted, could force = drivers to=20 leave because of less hours. The board acknowledged that it was a = possibility=20 the district may face.

"I wasn't very happy with them," she said = of the=20 board. She thought it was wrong that some had made it seem as though = school=20 buses were taking away from education. "How do you think that makes = parents=20 feel?" she asked, throwing up her hand in exasperation.

Hawkins = drives=20 one of the longest routes in the school district. The high school and = elementary=20 school students she drops in Fiddletown can be on the bus for up to an = hour and=20 45 minutes. But, she said, sometimes that length of time isn't so bad. = Besides=20 giving drivers the hours they need, she said some parents rely on the = bus as a=20 babysitting service. She said that extra hour gives some parents the = time they=20 need to get home. Also, even if students were not on the bus, the drive = to town=20 from Fiddletown, which means taking a narrow, winding road on which = driving 55=20 miles per hour is too fast, can still take at least half an = hour.

She=20 said it seems counterproductive to create more routes without thinking = of some=20 way to maintain a bus driver's hours. She argues that if a driver is = working=20 four hours or less, which could easily happen, then the pay and benefits = don't=20 make the job worthwhile. Her suggestion is to bring back other routes = such as=20 the late bus for students who stay after school for activities and add = bus runs=20 for kindergarten students.

"We all have to look at everything," = Hawkins=20 said, "and we need to look at the big picture."

For one student, = who is=20 the first one on and the very last one off Hawkins' bus, she wouldn't = mind a=20 shorter ride time but would miss the time she spends with her bus = driver.=20 "Lajuana's my shrink," Charlie Merritt said.

Merritt, a junior at = Amador=20 High School, lives in Fiddletown and says she passes the time on a bus = ride=20 that, at times, has been two hours, by doing homework or talking to=20 Hawkins.

Shorter times would help, but so would less crowded = buses,=20 Merritt said. On the bus she was on that afternoon, some students were = sitting=20 three to a seat with the third more in the aisle than on a chair. = Merritt said=20 it was worse in junior high when kids piled their backpacks on the floor = so they=20 would have something to sit on.

As far as charging a fee, Merritt = thought=20 it was OK, but "I just think they'll have a hard time enforcing=20 it."

Transportation Department Director Andrew Peters, who took = over the=20 position about a year and a half ago, said he's working to shorten long = routes=20 like Hawkins' and thinks that could happen in as soon as a month. If the = two to=20 three drivers he has in training finish well, then some route times = could be cut=20 by 20 to 25 minutes, which would put those routes back at the original=20 times.

He said the pass system for fee payers will be better = because=20 students will have pictures on their passes. This will eliminate a pass = being=20 shared by more than one student, he said.

Peters argues that with = the=20 price of gasoline today, it's cheaper for parents to send their student = on a=20 school bus than drive them themselves.

"It's very, very = reasonable,"=20 Peters said referring to the rate. "We don't want to deter students from = riding=20 the bus."

Jenifer = Gee